-Caveat Lector-
Egypt's Millennium Show Starts
12/31/99
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CAIRO (Reuters) - Floodlights lit up the ancient pyramids of Giza and
electronic sounds reverberated over the desert as Egypt's millennium show
eased into gear on Friday.
French composer Jean-Michel Jarre's ``Twelve Dreams of the Sun'' electronic
opera got off to a low-key start at about 6:45 p.m. with the pyramids
illuminated in green and recorded drumming and eerie music booming from
loudspeakers.
The audience for the overnight extravaganza of song, dance and music was
expected eventually to top 50,000, but spectators were only beginning to
arrive at the 4,500-year-old monuments when the $9.5 million show began.
Organizers said 9,000 armed troops, police and security men, some mounted on
camels, were guarding the plateau, where President Hosni Mubarak was expected
to arrive for Jarre's live performance due to start at about 10:30 p.m.
Egypt's Culture Ministry has come under fire from Islamists and
archaeological purists over the millennium celebration.
``Devil worship at the millennium party profanes the sanctity of Ramadan''
ran a headline on Friday in the Islamist Al-Shaab newspaper, keeping up its
long campaign against the festivities.
The music began well after sunset when Muslims break their daylong fast in
the holy month of Ramadan now in its final days. Two giant Ramadan lanterns
flanked the 50-yard wide stage.
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Millennium Inspires Pyramid Power
17:10EST
By TAREK ELTABLAWY
Associated Press Writer
12/30/99
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CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Silhouetted against a brilliant sunset, the Giza
Pyramids rise like three jagged teeth from the desert plateau outside Cairo
-- a sight that has inspired poets, conquerors and, lately, conspiracy
theorists.
The outlandish theories and rumors seem to be growing wilder with the
approach of the new millennium.
That exasperates scientists like Zahi Hawass, the archaeologist who oversees
the pyramids for the Egyptian government.
"If you want to make some money, grab a camera. Take some pictures of the
pyramids and develop a theory on their origin and significance,'' he grumbles.
As the country's chief spokesman on pyramids, Hawass himself plays a role in
some of theories discussed on the Internet.
Texe Marrs, described on his Web site as president of a Christian group
called the Power of the Prophecy and pastor of the Bible Home Church in
Austin, Texas, argues that the name Hawass bears a striking resemblance to
"Aiwass,'' who he says is a devil.
Marrs warns that at midnight on Dec. 31, a mysterious group may hold a
satanic ceremony inside the Cheops Pyramid, the largest in the Giza group. He
offers more information on a video available for $20 through his Web site.
New Ager David Icke claims on his own Web site that former President Bush
will be among the devil worshippers at the pyramids. And Queen Elizabeth II
of Britain, "who heads the reptilian-Illuminati House of Windsor,'' will
officiate at a twin ceremony in Greenwich, England.
Hawass says the only ceremony planned at the pyramids that day is a
millennium concert, featuring French minimalist composer Jean Michel Jarre.
Plans for the concert originally included a helicopter placing a gold
capstone on the Cheops Pyramid. That was abandoned, but not before an uproar
in the Egyptian opposition press. Editorials linked the plan to the glowing
pyramid cap pictured on U.S. dollars, and claimed that the capstone ceremony
had Masonic and Zionist overtones.
Hawass says: "We were afraid that the helicopter would damage the pyramids.''
The out-there theories have their followers -- and victims.
In July 1998, a German tourist described as a student of ancient Egypt
reportedly told a friend he would be reincarnated, and then committed suicide
by jumping off the landmark 613-foot Cairo Tower.
"These are nuts,'' Hawass says. He describes a mysterious telephone call from
an Australian woman. Identifying herself only as Sally, she told him that she
believed she had been impregnated by the ancient Egyptian god Horus as part
of a plan to destroy the world.
"She said that I was the only one who could save her,'' Hawass says. "What
could I do?''
Such cases are extreme illustrations of the pyramids' power over the
imagination. Napoleon Bonaparte once rallied his troops by pointing to one
and declaring: "Soldiers, from the summit of yonder pyramids, 40 centuries
look down upon you.'' A little more than a century ago, Mark Twain wrote that
encountering the pyramids was seeing "a fairy vision'' made real.
With millennium excitement growing manic, travel companies hope to capitalize
on that enduring fascination.
"Become a Serpent of Wisdom'' suggests Soluna Tours, one of dozens companies
using the Internet to promote trips to ancient locales such as Stonehenge,
Machu Picchu or the pyramids.
Power Places Tours of Frederiksted, Virgin Islands, offers 160 reservations
for spiritual travelers interested in New Year's inspirational seminars and
meditation sessions inside the Cheops pyramid. For $3,299, air fare and hotel
included, you get the opportunity to lie down in a pyramid sarcophagus.
Hawass does allow small groups to meditate inside the pyramids off hours. But
resting on the sarcophagus? Never.
And if any deep questions emerge from such soul-searching, don't refer them
to Hawass. "My job is to give people the reality,'' he says. "If I paid
attention to all the theories, I wouldn't get any work done.''
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